L.I.N.E. Fighting was THE MARINE H2H (or Combatatives) form from 1989 till 1998, then it was part of the US Army Special Forces Q School from 1998 or 1999 till just a few months ago. M.Sgt. Ron Donvito (ret.) has trained a mega-metric-busload of instructors in the LINE form, who in turn trained US Marines, US SF Q candidates, along with a whole truck load of other US mil. and friendly foriegn mil. instructors. Not to mention some Federal as well as local LE units and unit instructors.

I do not know, nor have I ever met Mr. Donvito (I will call him Mr. Donvito because his 20 years of service in the USMC deserves my respect). I have never had the oppertunity to train in the L.I.N.E. class. If I ever have the cash I will try and get into his training shool for the Basic Class, as I would like to train with a number of other combatatives instructors.

As for his claim to have been responsible for training a 1,000,000 soldiers, considering he was teaching L.I.N.E. for years in various units before it became the accepted USMC H2H form (or was even called L.I.N.E.). Plus the 9 years it was official training for all the USMC, plus various other units it is well possible that 1,000,000 soldiers here and abroad have been throught in the L.I.N.E. form. As I understand from the linked articles he continues to travel and train instructors.

L.I.N.E. is a combatatives form designed for a basic x-number of hours of instruction for a quick and dirty fighting style (originally all of the moves called for a finishing blow or stomp usually to the head or neck) for all USMC personnel to use in combat.

I learned about L.I.N.E. from a Marine friend that used to give me his copies of Leatherneck when I was in High School, it was featured in a store about the Marine H2H back in 1991-1993. In the last year that I have gotten serious about my personal safety I have came across the FMFM 0-7 LINE Training Manual as well as other combatives manuals so my memory is fairly fresh.

Check Carlos Machado's full brochure for North Carolina it lists the Close Combat Institue Martial Arts Academy do a goggle search for CCI Academy and pull up the cache for the old website. The new school in Florida doesn't start classes until January 7 according to the School News Section of the website that is listed in the original post.

All that info on the on the Cache from 15 minutes on the net. WoW, am I like a nErd or what?

I went by the Donvito(NOT to be confused with the person, Don Vito) Academy today to witness the offered "Gi class", as well as check on some of the backgrounds of the list of BB's held. Upon entering the school I was promptly greeted by Mike Donvito and asked what he could help me with. I replied that I would like to have a seat and watch. He pointed to the chairs and said feel free as he went back to his instruction. After going through a few techniques and letting the students practice on their own he came over to ask if I had any questions about the school or anything I'd like to ask. I was very blunt and proceeded to tell him that I saw the school, grabbed a flyer, and checked the website to see a numerous list of BB's. He (Mike) did not beat around the bush, but straightforwardly explained to me that some of those BB's were honorary, HOWEVER, (before you shake your heads) the styles were given by reputable instructors based on common knowledge, history, and skill sets similar to that of a style he was currently ranked or experienced in enough to cross over to and equate the same level of skill and knowledge to which the rank he was about to receive. He also explained that he actually did train with Machado and that he actually did work for him in N.C. as the representative for Machado BJJ. HE explained to MAchado that he was moving to Florida and that since there was currently no FL rep, he would like to do the same for him in FL. Seeing as how the school opened here no more than a week and a half ago, I can understand why the Machado website would not have been updated yet to reflect it's currency(FL rep). He also gave me a little bit of a background on the LINE system while we conversed. He also explained to me that this was an Academy, not a fight club, as you would mostly see aroudn the Panhandle area. This is a place to come for instruction and progress, not JUST live practice everyday. I "grew up" in a very serious school, that had the mentality of, I am here to give you training, not hand out a BB, like most McDojo's. This is the same outlook he had on his school. At a minimum it would take a good student to progress to BB in about 5-6 yrs. Reasonable. So...IMO at first glance this school does appear to be suspect if you merely go by the website and the vast credential listed on it. However, when you go by and sit down and talk face to face with them( I did for a little over an hour + watched class) about his training, and past, and philosophy on training you will see that they are serious about training, not interested in amassing tons of students just to turn a profit, and will give you quality instruction. As I watched Mike teach he was pretty meticulous about the movements an nuances involved in certain steps of a technique. Also giving the reasoning behind the moves and why, not just here is a move, now regurgitate it. I must say I have been hard to impress since joining the military and leaving my home school, but from all I have seen since leaving, I find this school the most qualified for my likings. Also, the rates are not too bad. I broke it down and the rate would be about $2.60 and hour if it were possible to pay by the hour. I am not sure about contracts but I will post more when i find more. I do plan on joining this school sometime in the near future...pending upcoming TDY's.

Attended CCI in Fayetteville, NC

I attended CCI Martial Arts Academy back from 1998 until 2002 and enjoyed every second of it. They are very legit as well great instructors. Wish I didn't have to move to Germany back in 2002 and leave it all behind.